Postmortem analysis? Kind of ironic I’d say in wake of his sudden departure from Microsoft where he had just completed the long, arduous journey of launching Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface. Soon after the Windows 8 launch, the news came from Redmond that he and CEO Steve Ballmer had agreed that it was time for Sinofsky to go.

The official reason Sinofsky left? Microsoft needed someone who could work across the multiple product groups, tie them together and create a more elastic set of services for the new age of business and the cloud. Julie Larson-Green won the engineering gig and Tami Reller took charge of the business side of Windows.

The unofficial (read: real) reason he left? he was a top-down autocrat who had an abrasive style not loved by the brass.

Now that makes me wonder what the hell this guy is going to teach a bunch of students getting their masters degrees. But I give credit to Sinofsky. Teaching is one of the greatest ways to give back to a community. I wish him well.